The invention integrates technologies relating to cervical immobilization and to therapeutic induction of mild cerebral hypothermia by transcutaneous cooling of oxygenated blood flowing through carotid arteries.
Cervical immobilization collars are often used by first-responders, such as EMTs, to stabilize the neck, head, and spine of a patient immediately after a trauma has occurred. While this procedure is generally effective to prevent further injury, it is helpful to begin to treat the patient's trauma before reaching the hospital. One method of treatment may include cooling the patient's brain. Brain cooling, i.e., reducing brain temperatures by as little as one or two degrees Celsius, produces a neuroprotective effect against deleterious responses associated with brain injuries. This mild cerebral hypothermia inhibits the release of neuroexcitetory amino acids (e.g., aspartate and glutamine), thereby interrupting the cascading effects of the inflammatory response. The neuroprotective effect is most pronounced if brain cooling is affected as soon as possible following an injury.
Protocols for first responders generally do not incorporate effective procedures for initiating brain cooling. For example, it is known to apply cold packs to the patient's body, to the groin, skull, and under the arm. This type of cooling, however, imparts systemic cooling, rather than selective cooling, and may not effectively drop the temperature of the patient's brain.